DUBAI, 20th March 2017
No less than 50 Paralympic medalists from Rio including UAE star Mohammed Al Hammadi will kick-start their journey to London at a brand new stadium in Dubai when the 9th Fazza World Para Athletics Championship – Dubai 2017 gets underway on Monday 23rd March at the Dubai Club for the Disabled. The competition will continue until Thursday 23rd March with action scheduled to begin at 4.00 pm each day.
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council (DSC), it is being organized and supervised by the Dubai Club for the Disabled with the support of their strategic partners Dubai Sports Council, World Para Athletics (formerly International Paralympic Committee), the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW), and the UAE Paralympic Committee, the season-opening World Para Athletics Dubai Grand Prix has attracted 386 athletes from 41 countries.
It is the first major international meeting since the Paralympic Games were held in Brazil last September and provides the first opportunity to see many of the world’s top Para athletes back in action since Rio 2016.
Records are expected to tumble in the new state-of-the-art venue in Dubai which has been a happy hunting ground for Para athletes as three world records were broken in 2016, eight in 2015 and seven in 2014.
Among the line up in Dubai will be 20 Paralympic gold medalists from Rio, including Mohammed Al Hammadi who won the UAE’s only track gold at Rio 2016 defeating world champion Walid Ktila of Tunisia in the T34 800m wheelchair race in a Games record time of 1 minute, 40.24 seconds.
In fact the duel between Al Hammadi, who lines up in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m T34, and world record holder Ktila will be provide for a fascinating spectacle.
The Fazza World Para Athletics Championship in Dubai is the first of a series of nine Grand Prix taking place around the world this year as preparations for the London 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in July.
Many Para Athletics stars see Dubai Grand Prix as an important destination to rekindle their confidence and get their focus back on track as they look towards London even as they ride on the success achieved in Rio 2016.
“For me it’s very good to race against good athletes, to see where I am and also to see where others are,” Swiss wheelchair racer Marcel Hug was reported as saying in the official website of World Para Athletics www.paralympic.org before heading to Dubai.
Hug clinched two gold and two silver medals at the Paralympic Games six months ago – placing him top of the medal standings in men’s Para athletics at Rio 2016.
Winner of the 800m and marathon T54, it was Hug’s first time at the top of the Paralympic podium - a feat he had been striving for since Athens 2004.
The 31-year-old believes a strong performance in Dubai is just what he needs to kick-start another winning season.
“For me it is very important to have a good start to the season. It’s important for my self-confidence,” explained Hug, who took a two and a half month break from Para athletics after he won the New York marathon last November.
Hug does not believe in resting on his laurels and racing in Dubai will be like starting all over again.
“In a way I think winning in Rio changed my confidence. But I think now it starts from zero and I think the expectations are high again; very high,” he said.
Five of Great Britain’s Paralympic champions also start their World Championship campaign in Dubai – Libby Clegg (T11), Georgie Hermitage (T37), Kadeena Cox (T38), Sophie Hahn (T38) and Jo Butterfield (F51).
Clegg is aware all eyes wil be on her after winning two Paralympic golds at Rio 2016.
“It would be good for me to put down a strong marker just to show what kind of shape I’m in,” said Clegg, who lines up against a field including Brazil’s former world and Paralympic champion Terezinha Guilhermina.
“I think everyone is going to be watching me now anyway regardless of whether I run well or not, so the pressure is on regardless.”
 
The 26-year-old became a double Paralympic gold medallist, winning both the 100m and 200m T11 at Rio 2016, and adding the 100m T11 to her list of accomplishments.
Rio 2016 gold medalists from across Africa also line up: Kenyans Henry Kirwa (T13) and Samwel Kimani (T11); Tunisia’s Walid Ktila (T34); Namibia’s Ananias Shikongo (T11) and Algerians Abdellatif Baka (T13), Samir Nouioua (T46), Asmahan Boudjadar (F33) and Nassima Saifi (F57).
Some of the key contenders:
Men’s 100m T33
Kuwait’s Paralympic champion Ahmad Al  Mutairi won his country’s first gold medal since the Athens 2004 Games when he took victory in the men’s 100m T33 at Rio 2016. The 22-year-old will be tough competition for the likes of Great Britain’s Paralympic bronze medallist Andrew Small and Germany’s Denis Schmitz.
Men’s 200m T11
Namibia’s Ananais Shikongo won his first Paralympic title last year in 22.44 – just 0.03 seconds outside David Brown of the USA’s 2014 world record.
Men’s 1,500m T13
Algeria’s Abdellatif Baka hit the headlines at Rio 2016 when he clinched 1,500m T13 gold with a new world record 3:48.29.
Men’s 5,000m T54
Swiss star Marcel Hug takes on six distances in Dubai, from 100m through to 5,000m. He’s up against a talented field including the man who beat him to first place at February’s Tokyo marathon, Sho Watanabe of Japan.
Men’s shot put F33
All three medalists from Rio 2016 line up in Dubai: Germany’s Daniel Scheil, Algeria’s Kamel Kardjena and Saudi Arabia’s Hani Al Nakhli won gold, silver and bronze respectively in Brazil.
Women’s 100m T38
Sophie Hahn is one of a number of talented Brits making the journey to Dubai. The 20-year-old is the reigning world and Paralympic champion over 100m and will start as favourite. Watch out for her teammate Kadeena Cox, winner of the 400m T38 at Rio 2016.
Women’s discus F57
Algeria’s Nassima Saifi and Ireland’s Orla Barry gold and silver medalists respectively at the Rio Games take to the field in Dubai.
Women’s shot put F33
 
Another of Algeria’s Paralympic gold medalists, Asmahan Boudjadar, will be out to make her mark in Dubai a year after she broke the javelin F33 world record and set a new African shot put F33 record at the same event. Local hopes will rest with the UAE’s Paralympic bronze medalist Sara Al Senani.
Hosts UAE have the largest number of 48 athletes from among the 41 countries namely Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bahrain, Czech Republic, Egypt, Fiji, Zambia, Britain, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Latvia, Libya, Moldova, Macedonia, Namibia, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, Switzerland, Slovakia, Sweden, Tonga, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and Uzbekistan.